Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jhaelen" data-source="post: 4138900" data-attributes="member: 46713">I'd put it in the dictionary next to the word stalemate <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />On a more serious note, I've enjoyed playing chess quite a lot for a couple of years. The thing is, after a certain point you really have to start memorizing matches to get any better. At that point I decided it was more tedium than fun and stopped playing it.I also firmly believe that chess belongs to the category of games where the player who makes the first move cannot lose unless making a mistake. I.e. it's in the same category as tic-tac-toe, reversi (engl.?), and checkers. It just hasn't been proved yet because the number of possible moves is so large - but it's only a matter of time until someone does.Back on topic:The comparison of chess and D&D fails on more accounts than I could possibly list. So, I'll limit myself to one point I consider crucial:Part of the enjoyment in D&D comes from new toys to play with: new monsters, new items, new feats, new classes, etc. It never gets boring because it keeps changing and evolving. While this can be accomplished by a creative DM without any need for additional supplements, it also requires a lot of time which many DMs do not have, so obviously, it's an excellent way for a company to make more money than from just selling the rules.This still doesn't account for the need of releasing a new version of the rules from time to time. However, I think it's important to keep the game alive. No rpg system is perfect (or at least I don't know of one <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":P" title="Stick out tongue    :P"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":P" />). Over time you'll notice more and more tidbits you don't like about the game. You can make do with house-rules but eventually you'll reach a point where the minor nitpicks become numerous enough that you no longer enjoy the game the way you used to.Rule-Mastery is another problem: While not everyone is a min-maxer, given enough time everyone will notice that some things work better than others and start using the winning strategies, eliminating variety.Btw.: Incidentally, this effect is usually amplified by the rules-bloat caused by supplements, so they're a really a mixed blessing.That's when you need the rejuvenating effect of a new ruleset:It will get rid of (most) of the problems you've grown to hate and refresh your enthusiasm. They'll also reset the metagame: You need time to figure out the new winning strategies and can have fun again exploring different options. The sense of wonder is renewed.Then, after a couple of years (sometimes more, sometimes less) the cycle repeats: The new ruleset will have new tidbits you're starting to dislike, you get frustrated because of things that don't work as well as you once thought, etc., etc.</blockquote>

Verification